John 1

Have you asked your family members, friends or neighbours if they believe in angels? If you believe in angels, you belong to a majority of Canadians. At least two in three Canadians believe in angels. According to a 2008 poll, 67 percent of Canadians believe in angels. And 37 percent of Canadians certainly believe in angels. The Prairie people are more likely to believe (77%) and the west coastal people (BC) have lesser belief in angels (61%). If you search on the internet, you will find many different reports that tell you that always a majority of North Americans believe in angels. In a US survey, a majority of Christians in the US say they have personal experiences of angels, especially guardian angels. Even about 20 percent of the people with no religion report that they have been helped or saved by a guardian angel.

In the Bible, from the book of Genesis down to the book of Revelation, we encounter so many angelic beings in important moments for the salvation of mankind. From the patriarch Abraham to the foster father of Jesus Joseph, angels faithfully bring the messages of the Lord to humans and help them to carry out the work of salvation. Angels served Jesus after his temptation in the desert, and Jesus tells Nathaniel that the angels will serve him at his glorious triumph as we heard in today’s gospel. Angels are filling the world, busy with the works of the Lord at all times.

But when we examine our current Catholic culture, we seem to pay much less attention to angels than previous generations. How many of us pray daily to archangels and guardian angels? When we struggle with vices and sins, we are not only fighting ourselves. We are in a battle with the darkness of Satan and his evil spirits. Why don’t we ask the angels of the Lord to protect and help us in these battles? I pray that I may be more conscious of these heavenly messengers and protectors so that I can safely walk the narrow path to the kingdom of heaven until I meet the Lord in heaven.